Rising Out of the Ocean – Neptune and Chiron Station Direct at the Taurus Full Moon

“I cried all the way through and you know what I found on the other side? Bliss. Total Bliss.” – Kristin Morelli

If your feelings have been on a rollercoaster ride from the highest highs to the lowest lows and everywhere in-between, then you are attuned to the cosmic story of now. We’re approaching a particularly potent Full Moon, exact on Thursday (12:16pm PST), when the rising tide of emotions will peak.

The Full Moon in Taurus amplifies our feelings about security, survival, resources, money, values and needs. As the Moon opposes the Scorpio Sun, the Taurus-Scorpio polarity is also animated — self-reliance vs. merging; holding on vs. letting go; attachment to what’s familiar and comfortable vs. opening to increased passion and vitality.

Coinciding with this Full Moon are the stations of Neptune and Chiron, as they both turn from Retrograde to forward motion. Neptune, god/goddess of the ocean, rules consciousness, Source, the infinite, the All That Is. Chiron the Wounded Healer triggers our deepest pain, and in Pisces the Fish — the sign associated with Neptune — we encounter the pain of separation from Source, a kind of existential crisis.

When a planet stations — appearing to stand still before changing directions — the archetypes signified by that planet are living large. With the Full Moon in play, our sensitivity is amplified. Neptune stations on Wednesday (10:54am PST) and Chiron on Thursday, within minutes of the Full Moon (12:55pm PST).

The extreme feeling states of bliss, ecstasy and oneness, as well as despair, depression and grief, all fall under the rulership of Neptune and Pisces. Because the feelings can seem so overwhelming, we might be afraid that if we “go there,” we won’t come back, and then we can fall into shadow Neptune/Pisces — avoidance, addiction, denial and escapism. As Michael Meade says, “When we think we can’t handle the emotions, we lose the natural substances of the soul and begin looking for substances to replace the flow” (The Great Dance).

Neptune and Chiron have been traveling together for the past few years (see Opening to Oneness), a combination described by Daniel Giamario as “broken-hearted idealism.” As both planets start moving forward again, he says, “It’s over — full steam ahead.” We can get lost in our individual and collective pain, lamenting and regretting the past and what should have, could have been, or we can feel the feelings, and then move on.

Adding to the intensity, Mars the Warrior — desire, passion, courage and personal power — opposes Neptune and Chiron at the Full Moon. This aspect speaks to the wounded masculine in each of us and can trigger pain resulting from the times when we didn’t stand up for ourselves, when we sacrificed or surrendered our power, and when we didn’t have the courage or confidence to go after what we really wanted.

Mars opposite Chiron-Neptune also awakens our deepest longings, and, ultimately, our longing to return to that pre-embodied state of pure consciousness, to feel our wholeness and oneness with Source. We tend to project this desire onto lovers, possessions, jobs, money, etc., and when the projection wears off, we experience disappointment and disillusion. The gift of disillusionment is to help us reclaim our projections and turn our attention back to Source, to reorient ourselves toward the truth of our inherent wholeness.

Meanwhile, Venus — the ruler of Taurus — is moving into a conjunction with the North Node in Sagittarius, urging us to broaden our vision and align with a more expansive story. Venus’s meet-up with the North Node, exact on November 13, empowers the feminine principles of reciprocity, relatedness, collaboration, beauty and love.

If you want to get more specific about what this Full Moon means for you, find 18 degrees of Taurus in your birth chart. The house where the Full Moon falls reveals areas of life where events are coming to fruition or culmination; where you might get an important insight into your needs, values and/or resources; where your security may feel threatened; and where you may feel called to release an old attachment.

The Sabian Symbol for this Full Moon is “A new continent rising out of the ocean“:

The surge of new potentiality after the crisis…. When the mind has been emptied and light has been called upon to purify the consciousness freed from its attachment and contaminations, a new release of life can emerge out of the infinite Ocean of potentiality, the Virgin SPACE. What will it be used for?” (Dane Rudhyar, An Astrological Mandala)

Great post Emily! Wasn’t this just the theme of my weekend at the EA Conference . . . I love sharing your astro wisdom with friends and your deep and compassionate knowledge of the planets really helps me tap into my own knowledge and wisdom . . . I’m so in the Neptune theme (and chiron) at the moment.Thank you!